Reading Choice In Today's Classroom

As an English Teacher, it is important to develop a love of reading and curiosity. How is that done in today's world?

One of the many goals of an English Teacher is to develop an appreciation for reading in students. Most teachers of English come to the classroom with a passion for literature, an appreciation of the power of the written word, and want to teach the life lessons that can be drawn from literature. We want to pass that along to our students.

How can that be done in the era of social media, instant gratification, and constant visual mediums?

How can that be done in the era of book challenges and dramatic school board protests?

To be clear, it can be done and done well. We can get a generation that is naturally curious to love literature, even during this time period. But, it is important recognize the mistakes that have been made in the past so that we can move forward and ignite passion in today’s world.

Before getting to that, I do feel the need to state one thing. Young people are reading. They are reading on their feeds, in their video games, and across those visual medias. Sure, they aren’t reading books, but they are reading. And, there is a very simple reason why.

The education industry tends to kill a person’s love of reading. It is called readicide. Think about it, young kids love to read when they first learn. Their world is filled with Dr. Seuss, Judy Blume, and whatever books are given to them. Then, they hit third and fourth grade and have to do reading logs to prove to the teacher that they are reading. Suddenly, that passion and excitement of reading gives way to the feeling of it becoming an obligation like a job.

The love is gone. It will eventually come back for most, but it will be later in life when formal education ends and when choice comes back.

Then, a child hits the secondary level, the land of the whole class novel. Now, most ELA teachers are really talented when it comes to teaching the whole class one novel. They plan all of these lessons that not only build reading, writing, and critical thinking skills, but make relevant connections to the real world. In many cases, the lessons are brilliant and many students are pretty engaged.

But, not all kids are engaged.

And, even less are reading on their own at home.

Most whole class novels feature most of the book being read in class so that the teacher can teach those lessons mentioned above. And, if anyone has spent any time in middle school or high school English class, the enthusiasm level for a whole class read aloud might actually be in the negative. In other words, even the most enthusiastic reader is bored.

How bad is the lack of reading problem?

According to the Pew Research Center, only 17 percent of 13-year-olds read for fun each day, compared to 27 percent in 2021, and 34 percent in 1984. Even sadder, only 8 percent of 9-year-olds said they read for fun once per year.

We can blame family structures; we can blame a shift in politics. And, sure, they both have some responsibility.

Most of the blame falls on the education system. We are systematically killing the love of reading for kids. If we don’t change our ways soon, the reading epidemic will not only continue, but may not be recoverable.

So, how do we stop readicide and get kids to actually read more?

The first thing we do is stop reading logs in elementary schools. It is the first negative experience associated with reading that a kid has. Removing that stress, that “have to” from the child and family removes the negativity. It allows kids to continue to do something that they initially like rather than it becoming a chore for them. And, there is one question that is never asked when it comes to reading logs: how do they assess whether or not a child actually read and understood what they read? They don’t. Get rid of them and kids will be happier.

On the secondary level, the whole class novel approach needs to be the exception, not the rule. Nobody is arguing that a Teacher can’t effectively teach a whole class novel once in a while. After all, students need modeling when it comes to reading comprehension and the ability to discover the nuances and techniques of writing. But, it should not be standard practice.

Instead, curriculums need to be changed where each grade level has a big bank of choices for kids to choose from. Students should read novels that they have curiosity about or from genres that interest them. After all, we are teachers of skills so the novel that the student is reading should not matter. If we want to teach students about a certain literary technique, any piece of literature can be used. The plot of a story is irrelevant when it comes to ELA standards; the skills are all that matters.

With that argument in mind, classrooms should be more of a literature circle or book talk setup. Students should be reading their passion areas/interests and demonstrate their knowledge of skills that are taught in class by using their chosen novel. The literature is a vehicle for the skills to be learned and then, later, demonstrated.

Teachers should explicitly teach the skills to the class. They can use shorter pieces of literature, even excerpts from some of the novels that are being read by the students. Students should then be able to read their book and use it when it comes time to assess skills.

With that mindset, a student’s love of literature won’t dim because we made them read something they had zero interest in or we made them fill out comprehension ditto after comprehension ditto. Or, worse, we made them get a paper signed that promises that they read.

This also helps in the era of book challenges. With more and more protests about books, giving students (and their families) a choice in their reading will alleviate most of the angst that we see around the country. While I stand firmly against censorship, I don’t view any piece of literature as a “must read” for kids. Yes, I have my favorites and pieces that I teach well. But, if we are truly teachers of skills, there isn’t one novel that needs to be taught. If a family doesn't want their child exposed to a particular piece (something I don’t agree with, but isn’t my place to say), there are many other pieces of literature that can be used.

I lived this just last year. I decided to do one whole class novel (but read in literature circles format). The choice was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Typically, freshmen love the book as it is written how they speak and the experiences detailed are relevant to their lives. I had one parent call the Principal because of the choice. Ultimately, it came down to religious reasons as they didn’t like a particular drawing of Jesus and one particular section of the book when the 14-year-old main character briefly talks about masturbation.

My initial response was a bit of disbelief and a little anger. But, then, I practiced what I preach; we are teachers of skills. The novel is irrelevant. I told the family that they could pick a different book and that, “I can teach the skills of narration, foreshadowing, and imagery with any book.” I gave options to every class member so that the one student wasn’t singled out. There was not an issue. And, more importantly, those skill learned led to some tremendous narrative writing.

If I am honest, some students chose a different novel and were more engaged in their reading. Their choice led to them reading more.

We can get kids to keep their love of reading if we remove the negativity that school places on their reading. We can offer them choice, teach them skills, and have great discussions without the rote tasks that are traditionally associated with reading in schools. That choice not only avoids the few conflicts between families and schools, but it, most importantly, gives kids the opportunity to read what they are interested in. All the while, we can use that literature as the vehicle to better teach kids the skills necessary to read in the real world.

We don’t have to kill their love of reading to do that.